Queens

This past weekend I realized something. I have been neglecting four of the five boroughs that comprise New York City. Without a doubt, the borough with the most collective draw is Manhattan. It has all the major tourist sites and is the central hub of the city's activity. And admittedly, that is where I spend most of my days off. I have been to all the remaining boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island, but have not spent a considerable amount of time in any of them. Well this last weekend, I tried to partially rectify this injustice.

On Saturday, a few of my fellow interns and I embarked on an exploratory journey to the borough of Queens. The "7" train that takes you all the way from Times Square to Queens-borough Main street was a refreshing ride. The reason being, as soon as you emerge in Queens from beneath the East River, the train is above ground for the rest of the trip. This is a refreshing change from much of the rest of the subway system which lies underground. It was nice to see the sun shining as we passed through neighborhood after neighborhood (However, I also noticed the copious amounts of graffiti covering the building-sides).

Our first stop was Queens Borough Main Street. This area is pretty much Queens very own, miniature Chinatown. The streets were flooded with people pushing past one another. We walked past shop after shop of Chinese markets where you could purchase anything from fresh vegetables to knock-off brand clothing. We made our way down to the town hall where we walked through an art exhibit dedicated to the Year of the Tiger.

While at town hall, we asked the employee if they could recommend any good places for us to eat. He suggested we try a dive called Little Pepper. As you can probably guess, the food they serve is just a wee-bit spicy. I for one, am not a big fan of spicy food so I kept my order simple. However, Nathan, one of my fellow interns, ordered spicy lamb. As soon as he took his first bite, he knew he was in for a challenge. It was pretty remarkable how quickly the line of sweat appeared on his forehead. But, like a champ, he managed to finish the entire entree...with a little bit of help from a pitcher of ice-cold water.

We then took the train over to CitiField where the Mets play. I am definitely looking forward to attending both a Mets and Yankees game as soon as baseball season starts! Following that, we walked over to Arthur Ashe Stadium where the US Open Tennis Tournament is held every year. It made me really miss my tennis class I took last year. Tennis is a sport that I may not be all that great at, but I still enjoy playing.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon roaming Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The park was home to the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair and also hosted the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. If you are a fan of the television series, "The King of Queens," you may be interested to know that scenes from the shows opening sequence were actually filmed at this park (I had the show's theme song stuck in my head all afternoon). The park itself seemed to be full of life: people were running, riding bikes, cooking out, playing sports. It was simply the perfect weather for a day in the park. We then capped off the day by eating at a pizza place called Two Boots in Grand Central Station.

I'm glad we decided to take a day to branch out from our surroundings a little bit. I now look forward to exploring the remaining boroughs in more detail during my remaining time in the city. Manhattan, may have all the big attractions, but each borough has something unique to offer. And I can't wait to find out what those things are in the months ahead.